Creating your perfect kitchen space and making your project budget work effectively. Part 1

Part 1. Drawers

Generally, most of us have a budget to work within, and we all have a kitchen design vision and desire. Influence from magazine features, Pinterest, Instagram and friend’s kitchens can result in a disparity between these two vital cornerstones of a new kitchen purchase.

Syncing these two base requirements is the kind of challenge that an independent kitchen designer will relish and using a shrewd specification of the right quality cabinetry, appliances and accessories will be able to achieve, probably saving you some money to boot.

The cabinetry cost should be investigated first as this element varies the most, based upon the cabinet quality, hinges, drawer box construction and drawer runner type.

Unless you are really looking to achieve a fully fitted floor to ceiling, corner to corner massing of cupboards take some time to seriously consider how much kitchenalia you will need to store in your new kitchen.

how many tea pots?

One of my more memorable kitchen design specifications was for a client who came in with a multi-page listing of EVERYTHING they needed to keep in their kitchen. Now, I have seen many kitchens with masses of kitchenalia, but this list was stupendous – it turned out that the client was a testing chef for a cookery book author and needed the exhaustive collection of cooking components, so the list was the only brief.

You may have pans, baking trays and dishes that you have not used for years or that actually you don’t like anymore, have a clear-out, and then you will know how much cupboard storage you will actually need.

Do you need drawers above every cupboard? These can be 56% more expensive per cabinet and honestly, they get filled with stuff you probably do not need to keep. So keep the number of drawers realistic. Ensure that you allow for cooking utensils, cutlery both best and every day, that handy drawer for greaseproof paper and beeswax parchment and napkins. Plus a three more and that should be about right for most kitchens, a total of seven ordinary drawers.

excessive expensive drawers

Large deep drawers look fabulous within a big space but are expensive, opt for a single set of wide pan drawers rather than multiple smaller drawer sets to keep costs lower. E.g. x2 small pan drawers could cost 37% more than one set of pan drawers equalling the same width.

So when looking at your kitchen design desires and working budget, drawers can be an easy way to optimise costs.

Ask me about my kitchen design and specification services, with 1000’s of designs completed and installed, I can provide an exemplary service not associated with any particular maker but just right for your needs and budget.